The Path of Abraham

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The Abraham Path is a cultural route connecting the cities associated with Abraham’s journey to the promised land. Storytelling, kindness and hospitality are symbolic to walking the path.

Abraham/Ibrahim is thought to have lived during the Bronze Age. He travelled with family and flock throughout the Arabian peninsula and the Nile Valley. His story has inspired a myriad of communities including Muslims, Jews, Christians, Alevi, Bedouin, Samaritans and countless others around the world.

The main historical sites on the Path are Urfa (the birthplace of Abraham), Harran (the town it is said Abraham lived and from which he received the call to start the main part of his journey), Jerusalem and Hebron (the location of the tomb of Abraham and his wife Sarah).

Urfa is a sacred city, built around a complex of mosques, caves and Abraham’s Pool. Visitors follow Abraham’s footsteps through these ancient neighbourhood and explore the surrounding sites, whose importance stretches both before and after Abraham’s life.

You might start’ in the capital city Urfa, where you can explore the famed pilgrimage sites of Balikli Göl and sample some of the city’s celebrated cuisine. Or opt for the biblical city of Harran, where Abraham lived with Sarah before travelling to the promised land of Canaan.

Within a days’ walk of Harran lie several hilltop shrines, rising suddenly from the surrounding plateau, like the archaeological wonder that is Gobekli Tepe.

The route passes through Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and ends in Negev, Southern Israel. Along the way it crosses landscapes such as the Euphrates and the Jordan river valleys and links such historic and holy sites as the citadel of Aleppo, the Great Mosque in Damascus, Mount Nebo in Jordan, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. For the modern-day pilgrim, Abraham’s the path provides an opportunity to travel through 4,000 years of culture and history.